COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A man was convicted of multiple charges, including rape and kidnapping, nearly three decades after the crime occurred in Kennesaw, thanks to DNA evidence.
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The Cobb County District Attorney’s Office announced earlier this week Jerry Lee Pruitt, was sentenced to two life sentences plus 20 years.
The conviction stems from an incident on October 23, 1997, when a then-27-year-old woman was assaulted in her apartment.
The incident happened as the victim was leaving her apartment. The DA said, when she opened the door, she was met by an unknown man who threw a threw a jacket over her head, pushed her back into her apartment and assaulted her in the bedroom. He then made the victim clean herself, shower, and placed some of her clothing in the washing machine and then left. After police was notified, the victim was taken to Kennestone Hospital for a sexual assault kit exam.
Despite initial investigations, the case went cold due to limitations in forensic technology at the time.
In 2018, the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative led to the retesting of the victim’s sexual assault kit, which revealed a male DNA profile. A subsequent CODIS hit in 2020 identified Pruitt as the suspect.
“This trial marked the first case ever tried in Cobb County through SAKI (Sexual Assault Kit Initiative),” said District Attorney Sonya F. Allen. “Justice was delayed in this case but delivered. It shows that time will not shield predators from accountability.”
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During the trial, three previous victims from different states testified. This included one woman from Cobb County, one woman from Alabama and another woman from Tennessee.
The DA said the similarities in their cases ‘were eerily similar,’ despit being unable to identify Pruitt.
The jury also heard from the victim involved in the 1997 incident and several GBI chemists who confirmed the DNA match.
His sentence which will run consecutively to a sentence he is already serving for another sexual assault in Alabama.
“Waiting 28 years to see justice has been surreal. I’m beyond thankful for this verdict and ready to turn the page of this chapter in my life. I carry the voices of so many who have not been heard, and I stand for them,” said the Cobb victim.
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